THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
247 
SOFT WOOD CUTTINGS 
During August and September tlie cutting frames 
should be in full operation. There are so many shrubs 
and plants that can he i)rolitahly propagated in this 
manner, and since quarantine 37 is in elfect, it he- 
hooves every nurseryman to give at least some attention 
to this branch of his business. 
If a frame is available no time should he lost in get¬ 
ting it into operaton. While perhaps not absolutely es¬ 
sential, a little bottom heat is always a great help in 
getting the cuttings to root. 18 inches to 2 feet of horse 
manure thoroughly shook up, and firmed down evenly, 
watered, will create suflicient bottom heat for the pur¬ 
pose. Cover this over with three inches of good sharp 
sand. 
In handling cuttings at this time of the year when the 
weather is liable to he hot and dry, every precaution 
should he taken to keep them from wilting. Wood 
should he cut fresh, kept spriidvled and covered and not 
exposed at all to the wind and sun, either in making or 
in putting in the sand. The success, of course, will 
depend largely upon the skill of the propagator, hut 
after all, anyone who understands the principles and 
will take sufficient interest to watch them continually, 
call insure a good strike, and when the propagator really 
becomes interested, it is surprising what success he will 
have even with plants that are considered difficult to 
root. Success depends upon intelligence, w^atchfulness, 
etc., rather than upon any set rules. The best propaga¬ 
tors are always those who can adapt the conditions and 
materials to what is needed to acconqilish their purpose. 
Nearly everyone with a garden knows how easy it is 
to root a rose cutting under a glass bottle. The same 
principle applies when propagating by the thousands in 
frames, and all there is in propagating from soft wood 
cuttings is to prevent excess evaporation from the cut¬ 
ting until the cutting has made roots that will support 
the foliage upon it and for a surplus to push out a bud. 
If the cuttings are overwatered, there is a tendency to 
damp off or decay. If too much air is given they are 
likely to wilt and shrivel. If there is too much sun they 
will scorch. It is the constant watchfulness to see they 
get just the right conditions to hold them in a living con¬ 
dition until they root. 
Some plants, principally those of the hard wooded 
nature are much slow^er to root than others, hence they 
are more difficult to propagate by this method. Given 
the right conditions, however, even the most unpromis¬ 
ing kinds will often he rooted by the skillful propagator. 
In propagating, constant watchfulness is the price of 
success. There are ])erhaps as many failures after the 
rooted cuttings have been planted out as there are in the 
cutting bed, as they require attention until they have be¬ 
come rooted in the ground. The safest way is to pot 
each individual cutting up or at least bed them out in 
fi'ames or in positions wdiere shade, moisture or the 
necessary growing conditions can he artificially sup¬ 
plied should the w^eather jirove uncongenial. This may 
often seem extra and unnecessary work, hut it is always 
a safer plan unless the propagator knows well the na¬ 
ture of his plants. Some will stand much more hard 
treatment than others, depending upon their nature, hut 
to get a good even stand and the best results, even with 
those plants that usually stand a certian amount of ne¬ 
glect and abuse, the best treatment jiossihle always pays. 
PLANT FANCIERS 
After the four years of w^ar it does one good to again 
receive Catalogues from plant specialists of the old coun¬ 
try, indicating that interest has again revived in horti¬ 
culture now^ the war is over. 
A Catalogue came to hand from R. H. Rath, Ltd., The 
Floral P'arms, Wisbech, England, showing a list of Daf¬ 
fodils and Tulips. Among the former are listed varie¬ 
ties for wdiicli the trade price is as high as 40 shillings 
each, equivalent to $10. Those wdio are only familiar 
with the commoner kinds of these bulbs that can he pur¬ 
chased for $3 or $4 per hundred or less, do not realize 
the money that is invested in these new^er and rarer 
kinds, and it is rather difficult for the average American 
to realize there is sufficient general interest to warrant 
the issuing of a trade Catalogue. 
There is no better barometer of a general interest in 
horticulture than the knowledge there is a sufficient 
number of purchasers of rarely and highly bred plants 
to w^arrant the distribution of a Catalogue listing them. 
It takes a real plant enthusiast to pay $10 for a single 
Daffodil bulb, hut after all this price is not high wdien 
compared w ith the gems of other lines. High prices are 
paid for postage stamps, first editions and other useless 
curios,and it is not to he wondered at that the connois¬ 
seur is willing to pay for these rare floral gems. 
THE METRIC SYSTEM 
A propaganda to urge the adoption of the metric sys¬ 
tem in America and England, is being carried on by the 
World Trade Club, San Francisco, Calif. It is a sub¬ 
ject deserving the support of everyone in the countiy. 
Many of our boys who have been in Europe will ap- 
])reciate the enormous waste in Great Britain of mental 
effort due to the use of pounds, shilling and pence. That 
same wasted effort takes place in America through our 
still retaining the obsolete inch, foot, yard; pint, quart 
and gallon, and other obsolete weights and measures 
that ought to have been scrapped generations ago, and 
yet are still in use among the English speaking peoples, 
while the rest of the wmrld has adopted the metric sys¬ 
tem. 
The average child of 10 wlio knows the metric deci¬ 
mal dollar and its sub-division, can learn in 10 minutes 
as much of the metric system as 00% of all the people 
ever have occasion to use. 
Tbe nurseiyman has, to a gi-eat extent, adopted the 
metric system in his catalogue, quoting price by the ten 
and hundred instead of dozen and gross, and will realize 
to a certain extent the tremendous saving in effort that 
could be applied in more profitable effort in other lines. 
It is a subject that deserves the interest of every citi¬ 
zen, and wlien oi)portunity occurs, they shoidd urge the 
legislators to adopt the meter, liter and gram. 
